Softonic.com is a software download portal

Web portal

A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....

 based in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, founded in 1997. Since 2007, the portal has included a blog called OnSoftware. In 2009 and 2011, the site was listed as having the most unique visitor traffic in Spain by audit bureau OJD Interactiva.

History

Softonic started in 1997 as a file-oriented service called Shareware Intercom, at Intercom Online (Grupo Intercom), a provider of Internet services in Cerdanyola del Vallés, near Barcelona. Originally files for the website came from the "Files Library Intercom BBS" at Intercom Online, using a "5-step semi-automated process", which was later greatly simplified. The company also offered monthly CDs of its software library for users tired of "having to wait for downloads to complete or pay exorbitant phone bills." In 1999, the service was described as having a "generosity of games, antivirus, education and the long, seductive etcetera."
Due to the popularity of the service among its users, in 2000 the company became independent under the name Softonic. In 2004, Softonic was made available in German, and in 2005, English. Initially the service was oriented only to downloads of DOS

DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...

 and Windows software, but evolved to offer software downloads for Mac and mobile platforms. Softonic was listed as the best place to work (100-250 employees) in an annual study by the Great Place to Work Institute, in 2009-2011, and #2 in 2008.

Downloads

Softonic offers the "Softonic Toolbar", a Windows-only 4MB web browser add-on for Firefox and Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer

Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...

which provides company-specific "content on the fly, many interesting online services, and can be easily customized" and "streamed music" using the "built-in music player".

Downloads hosted at Softonic can be preceded by a customized installer called "Softonic Downloader" which shows "commercial offers, such as the Softonic Toolbar." Downloads not hosted by Softonic are not accompanied by the Softonic Downloader.

External links

• Softonic.com
• "Intercom, un proveedor diferente". iWorld, IDG.es.